A/N: Hi guys, here is the long awaited sequel to Guardian! Yeah, right. Anyway, it's been a tough few weeks for me; first I flipped my ATV and nearly broke my damn hip, and today it was decided that our old cat had to be put down (He's older than I am, I basically grew up with him my entire life so... We're all gonna miss him a lot). So yeah, I feel like complete crap at the moment. And I'm not just saying all this personal shit to try and get more reviews, I've been accused of that before, and you know what? I'm telling you this and posting this ahead of schedule because I know people will review, and reviews always cheer me up, and my eyes are hurting from crying so much and my leg STILL hurts like a fucking bitch, so I could use some cheering up right now. So yeah, if you have a problem with that, shove it up your ass 'cause I don't want to hear it. Rant over.

Thanks to silverwrym, once a loyal Guardian reader, and now my beta for this story! Without you this wouldn't nearly be as smooth or complete. Also thanks to my IRL friend TheChiaroscuro (who I don't think would appreciate me saying her real name) who FINALLY finished Guardian after I bitched at her so much. Now she can listen to me bitch about the sequel... *cackles in manic glee*

The title for this story was chosen because an assailant is the opposite of a guardian. That will make more sense in later chapters.

Summary: The team thought that when Matthews changed Reid back into a human, everything would go back to normal. But Reid knows that it isn't over, and it's getting harder and harder to hide his new abilities from the team. Will the team figure out what is happening, before it's too late?

Rating: Will be T for now, but I will change it to M if you guys think I should.

Warnings: Some creepiness, mild blood and violence (especially in later chapters), some iffy language (mostly from me in Author's Notes), and overwhelming angst.

Disclaimer: I don't own CM in any shape or form. I just write stupid stories for it.

Chapter 1: Oscar knows all

Reid took a deep breath as he entered the BAU, clutching his messenger bag close to his side and squeezing his hands into tense fists. Flashes of colours burned his eyes and the bright florescent lights beat down on him like a spotlight, seeming to reveal every single one of his flaws and fears. The guard at the entrance, who usually gave him a gruff "Good morning," just looked at him as he passed, shifting uncomfortably. Reid might of thought that was weird, but his skin was burning and he had started to sweat uncontrollably, his mind shaking to its deepest root with anxiety. He hadn't felt this sort of nervousness since his first days of joining the BAU, and he couldn't quite explain why that was.

The elevator was crowded, but when the doors opened to emit him, everyone took a step back, like he was some dangerous animal that needed space. He was glad to get off at his floor and away from the awkward, silent atmosphere, nearly falling flat on his face in his haste to get out of the enclosed space. But outside of the elevator wasn't any better than the inside.

Every person he passed seemed to stop whatever they were doing just to stare and whisper behind their hands to their neighbours. He smiled weakly at some of them, but all they did stare blankly at him, so he gave up on that in favour of making it to his desk as soon as possible. They didn't laugh, or glare, or do anything really, which set Reid on edge even more. He could feel their dead, emotionless expressions drilling into his back as he hurried away.

He could see his desk, and instead of feeling a flutter of relief, he felt a wave of panic crush down on him. It was so far away, like a tiny island in the middle of an ocean. It seemed like he would never be able to reach it before he was drowned in the tides of unblinking looks he was receiving.

Full out running now, he still didn't seem to get any closer, and his vision began to tunnel, with his desk as a small pinprick of light in the distance. It felt like he was struggling through quicksand as he pushed the glass door open and stumbled into the office area, heaving for breath. Noises were muffled and everyone moved in slow-motion around him, stopping just to gaze silently at his struggle, so that he wanted to scream at all of them to just goddamn say something, anything!

Then he collapsed into his chair, panting and sucking in gulps of air, shaking from his efforts. Everything was normal, with people going about their business and not even giving him a second glance. Telephones rang shrilly and there was a hum of conversation that lingered in the air, with the tip-tap of people's shoes adding a rhythmic texture to the daily sounds in the office. Reid laid his head down on his desk, his sides still rising and falling rapidly, and listened to the dim gurgle of the coffee machine in the break-room, wondering suddenly why he had been so panicked.

Everything is fine, he told himself, why wouldn't it be? With a shaky laugh, Reid straightened back up to look directly into the face of his boss, Hotch. Jerking guiltily, he was about to say he was just about to get to work, when he noticed something. Hotch's face was completely smoothed of any emotion, and his eyes held no light or warmth. He wasn't even wearing his usual "Hotch glare." His face was just… blank.

"Do you think this is funny, Reid?" he asked, not a muscle twitching in his face. Reid blinked confusedly, and maybe a little fearfully, not able to stop the bubbling laugh that choked his throat.

"S-sir?" he was able to stammer out, his voice like glass against his throat and ears.

"Reid man, what did you do?"

Reid's head whipped around to behind him. "M-Morgan?"

"Reid, why would you lie to us?" asked Garcia, horrified. Reid shook his head, confused and realizing he was suddenly surrounded by the team. Rossi was there next to the blank-faced Hotch, his face twisted into an over exaggerated version of disgust and betrayal.

"How could you, Reid," whispered JJ, her face a mask of hurt, "I thought we were friends!"

Reid stared at them all, his head spinning faster and faster as they crowded closer and closer, suffocating him under their dead stares and murmuring voices, all repeating the same thing.

"Liar… liar… liar…"

Reid clutched his desk, leaning backwards with his vision zooming in and out of focus, becoming lost in a whirlwind of colour and noise. "I don't understand!" he tried to say, but his voice died and to his horror, all that came from his throat was a hoarse bark. Looking down, all he could see was giant peels of his flesh falling away, patches of black and white fur blooming out of his chest and mingling with the blood. His blood.

"Stop," he croaked out, but all that came out was a whimper, "Please, help me…"

But the team only watched as Reid fell to his knees, his muscles collapsing off of his legs, his whole body consumed by a wild shaking. Pools of blood gathered on the floor, slick and sticky on his fur, the taste of it on his tongue and lapping at his team's shoes, scarlet red stained over the carpet…

Reid sat up with a gasp from his bed, the lingering taste of blood in his mouth. Scrambling over his bed, he made a lunge at his lamp, flicking it on to bring an overwhelmingly bright light over the dark room. He brought a hand up to shield his eyes and his arm brushed his mouth, coming away wet. Squinting down, he saw his arm and hand had small specks of black crimson blood smeared over his pale skin. It took a long, panicked moment before he realized that the blood had come from when he had bit a hole on the inside of his cheek sometime during his nightmare.

He breathed a shaky sigh and peered at his bedside clock, reading the blinking numbers of 6:04. Figuring it wasn't too early, he heaved himself out of bed, shaking off the last remnants of his horrible dream.

Shuffling into his kitchen a half-hour later, after a nice long shower and having dressed for the day, Reid yawned and went about making his morning coffee. A small meow sounded as he finished spooning coffee grinds into the machine and Reid gave a small smile at the black and white kitten perching on his countertop.

"Oscar, I've told you before, no going on the counter," he scolded gently, lifting the kitten away from the gurgling coffee machine. Oscar purred loudly in response and Reid deposited his kitten onto one of the chairs next to his table, the only one not stacked high with books. With a tired groan, Reid flopped down on his couch, peeking an eye open at the soft thump Oscar made jumping off the chair onto the floor. A second later, the kitten had leaped up and stood in the middle of Reid's chest, kneading his tiny paws contentedly on the man's shirt.

"Bad dream," spoke Reid aloud, rubbing the top of Oscar's head. "Really bad dream." Oscar peered at him with bright yellow eyes, pausing in his kneading to look at his master. Reid sighed unhappily.

"What am I going to do, Oscar? The dream, it's a parallel, I know it is. I can't let them find out, and I'm terrified that I'll lose control and they'll know I've been lying to them. What do you think my team would do if they knew I was some sort of half-dog, half-man freak?" he ranted sadly.

You're not a freak, meowed Oscar, giving Reid a glare, you're just different.

"That's what my teachers used to say when I told them about being bullied," muttered Reid. "And what about the fact that I can talk to you, then? That's not normal at all."

Oscar shook his tiny kitten head, stopping his kneading all together. Why is that a bad thing? Personally, I enjoy talking to you. Even if you are a bit of a moron sometimes.

"What am I going to tell my team," demanded Reid, ignoring Oscar's previous statement, "When I just suddenly start growing fur?" Thinking back to his dream, Reid shuddered, blinking his eyes quickly so he could look up at Oscar clearly.

It had been nearly a month since Reid had been changed back into a human, and a little over three weeks since he had discovered his abilities. He still remembered with crystal-clear clarity when it had first happened. Luckily, he had been sitting in his own home, reading at the time instead of with others or in a public place. It had started as only a light itch over his skin, which fast escalated into a familiar fiery burn that spread throughout his entire body. He hadn't even been able to scream, the accustomed pain racing through his body and leaving him frozen in terror. After a few agonizing minutes, he had once again been reduced to a dog; it had taken hours for him to calm down enough that he discovered he was able to change back.

He had since then discovered that certain triggering emotions would knock him back down to four legs, although if he stayed too long in his human form, he would just turn into a dog anyways, without anything setting it off. It was like there was a timer, and the longer he went without transforming, the harder it became to suppress it. So far, since the initial transformation, the longest he had gone between transformations was four days; although, he found it was getting easier to control.

"It's impossible to assume," said Reid, continuing with his line of thinking, "That now that I'm going back to work full-time, that the team won't notice it."

Reid had gone back to work just two weeks ago, but had been stuck on desk-duty, not yet cleared for field work. He had only just gotten the call yesterday that he was expected to go back full-time and that they would have a case ready for him and his team the very next morning.

Realizing suddenly that the team probably did have a case this morning, Reid quickly checked the time, knowing that they were supposed to go in early. It was only a little after seven and Reid got to his feet, not paying attention to what Oscar was now meowing about.

"Gotta go," mumbled Reid, grabbing his messenger bag off the floor and jogging into the kitchen to get his cup of coffee. Oscar once again jumped up onto the counter as Reid stirred several spoons worth of sugar into his drink.

Spencer, Oscar mewed, waiting for Reid to look at him before continuing. I know you're worried, and probably scared, but don't worry. If you insist on keeping this a secret, just remember that you're a master profiler.

"They are too, Oscar," pointed out Reid, taking a cautious sip of his steaming cup of java. Oscar gave an irritated huff, and nipped at his master's hand playfully.

You'll be fine. You can control it no problem, purred the kitten, trying to sound encouraging.

"I feel like Bruce Banner," Reid grumbled back, gathering his things and preparing to head out.

Just stay calm, and remember, I love you! Oscar chirped cheerfully, watching as his master disappeared out the door with just a small wave behind him as a good-bye.

As soon as Reid was gone, the cat sat and sighed, flicking his tail absent-mindedly. Rolling his eyes towards the heavens, the cat looked around the empty and silent apartment, pondering on his new master. That boy is stubborn as a brick wall, he mused to himself, and nearly as thick.

A/N: Sorry that's so short. I have the next chapter written, so I'll post it next week. As for when other updates will come, I'm not sure because I haven't even started chapter 3. I'm hoping actually having a goal to write a chapter for this story each week will motivate me to write more. Otherwise, this is gonna be a repeat of Guardian, minus the rushed writing. I'm gonna make sure this doesn't completely suck before I post it, and having a beta will slow me down too, get me to put a bit more quality into it. So that's good.

Reviews right now will be appreciated beyond your comprehension.